After its Easter travel debacle, Qantas is now planning to add fare increases and cancelled flights to the itineraries of holiday-takers.
Buried in its third quarter update this morning was an announcement that Qantas would be cutting services and raising fares in July and August. Why? It blames its need to recoup fuel prices. “Strong demand for international travel — particularly direct long-haul flights — is expected to support recovery of higher fuel prices in the first half of FY23. Recovery of domestic fuel costs will be maximised by capacity reductions and some fare increases during July and August.”
But Qantas — a near-monopolist in the Australian domestic travel market — also assures markets that it has no issues with fuel costs. “The group’s hedging position has provided significant protection from the recent spike in oil prices, giving time to adjust its capacity, schedule and fares in response. Ninety per cent of the group’s fuel needs are hedged for the second half of FY22 at levels below current prices.”
July and August are peak winter-travel months, with hundreds of thousands of southerners from Victoria, Tasmania and NSW flying north to Queensland, the NT and WA. Quite a few people from the eastern states fly to southern areas of WA as well at that time. In terms of school holidays, the most affected states will be NSW, South Australia, WA, Tasmania and the ACT, which have most of the second-term holidays falling in July.
This is the airline that received more than a billion dollars of taxpayer support and subsidies during the pandemic, while sacking thousands of workers and demanding incessantly that borders be reopened regardless of the cost to human lives. When borders were reopened, Qantas, along with airport operators, was woefully unprepared for exactly what it had been demanding for more than a year.
Which politician will call out Alan Joyce and his greedy executives as they plan to inflict more misery on Australian travellers? Though at least there’ll be shorter airport queues in winter given Joyce’s plans to slash services. Call it a novel solution.
Qantas is being incredibly greedy, particularly given the lack of service and the cost of fares already (eg. $245 plus one way from Sydney to Dubbo for a 1 hour flight). As a frequent flyer member of Qantas I have been appalled by its lack of customer service. No changes can be made to flight credits online so ‘customers’ have to ring Qantas and wait for up to 5 hours to get any help. There is no support or service available at the airports, including in the Qantas lounge, to deal with flight credit and ‘flight pass’ issues. If there was any reasonable alternative to Qantas they would be in serious trouble. I agree with Michael Smith, Qantas should never have been privatised. They left us high and dry in New Zealand in March 2020 without even an email to advise that all flights home were cancelled by their partner Emirates. If Jacinda Adern had not tipped $550M into Air New Zealand to keep them flying, we would still be rowing home. Joyce has to go, he and his cronies receive huge bonuses ($6million and counting) and service continues to decline.
Thank you Crikey (Bernard and Glenn) for calling it for for what it is – pure, unadulterated Greed with a capital G.
For the past two years particularly, I personally have fretted and fumed at the arrogance, greed and sheer corporate corruption of what was once, like many others, a great Australian Airline – as Joyce threw his weight around demanding Bailout after Bailout of taxpayer money, from a gutless, incompetent bunch of fools allegedly leading the country through an “unprecedented” (brother, I hate that word too) Global Pandemic.
Ironically, Guardian Australia who once led the charge on so many indecently perverse failings of this government, now barely utter a peep of a discussion whilst Crikey continues to never let it slide into oblivion (as ALL Aussie media should).
Of course the real reason behind this money grabbing from Qantas could well be its latest announcement of non-stop flights to London from Sydney in a few year’s time – and its acquisition of a new fleet….. Or am I merely cynical?
Irregardless, I for one appreciate your NOT letting the greedy crooks off the hook.
Oh and while we’re at it, perhaps we should all be suggesting the LNP government begin asking for the Bailouts to be paid back into government coffers instead of bulging pockets? Surely, they wouldn’t still be in the air if they weren’t turning a substantial profit!
It would be nice to fly non-stop Sydney to London and not have to put down in one the plague pit hubs in the M/E.
I’d pay 2 or 3 times the current too cheap zoo class fare for that.
Not impressed at waiting until 2025 though.
Qantas managed Perth-London a couple of years back, just as the plague shut down mass air travel so it’s perfectly possible with the current jets – just cut back the payload by 50% and charge a premium.
This what happens when you privatise monopolies. Embarrassed the a Labor govt did it.
It was the HawKeating cabal of class traitors, not Labor.
Alas, today that is the model of ‘Labor’.
Imagine how good for Australia a govt owned Qantas could be. As with all the govt/corp greed privatisations, none of it has been for the betterment of the hoi poloi or the nation no matter what arguments put up at the time. I was with an oil company in London when it was bought/nationalised by the govt back in the 70s. Best thing they ever did. Will it ever happen here? Not with this duo of self absorbed parties…
Yes Maybe we can hear Morribund say to Parliament he has got to go! blah blah me big man he/ she bad man/ woman ( aka like Christne Hollgate) She incidentally refused to sell out the lucrative arm to third party in the parcel arm …blah, blah, blah… this week who is it Fry em up has sold off.. it really upset the public “owners” in our infrastructure and our Australian owned power.. ? So he blocked the sale of milk but allows this other sell out….. just a disgrace and sadly no not just under this mob.. vote opposition in the Reps and Green,TLP,progressive Animal, Reason and the Yellow Peril and their mates last
Meant “vote oppose in the Reps.. and Senate: Green, TLP, other progressives independents for climate-Animal rights, Reason party. ‘Yellow Peril party’ with Clive Paint me Palmer and me mates last”
vote UAP and it is a vote for Morribund in other words a vote for the same old sell out of our assets and hold the Labor side to account with Greens and progressives in the senate. If ya water down the labor votes I am afraid Palmer will give Morribund the win due to preferences going that way of the aisle. What is the choice? Serfdom and totalitarian sell off of our public institutions and assets or some sort of civil leadership
Your final line is certainly the future planned for us but very few people understand that and no-one is power will acknowledge it.
No wonder Joyce is on the big money – screw customers, ’til they bleed.
Had to change flight plans because the wedding was called off – wanted to use “credits” to fly elsewhere for a baby shower.
Original flights much dearer than Plan B’s – but do you reckon they’d give us the tickets at the cheaper rate?
NFL. All that button pressing must be pretty bloody complicated?
[7:30 April 19(?) – that bloke waiting since September (7 months) to get his “credits” sorted – Andrew David (Qantas “Excuses Department”?) on to tell us what a great job they’re doing – how “sorting out times” had been cut to “80 per cent we can get them a refund within one week where currently it is anywhere between six to eight weeks and at the worst case, it actually blew out to 12 weeks”?
So back to that “28+ weeks” scenario? That’s not “worst case” for QANTAS?}